Key-cabinet



J. BENSON.

KEY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED Aue 26. 1920.

1,389, 181. Patented g- 30, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

in van t or J. BENSON.

KEY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26, 1920.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921..

Inven for. Ewe 14 W 2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

I To aZZ whom it may concern.

UNITED T E T T OFFICE.

JACOB BENSON, DIE BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT.

KEY-CABINET.

Be it known that I, JAoon Benson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brlstol, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key-Cabinets,'of which the following is a specification.

My lnvention relates to improvements in key-cabinets, and the object of my improvement is simplicity and economy in construction and convenience and efiiciency in use.

,111 the accompanying drawing 2-- V Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved key-cabinet. I I

Fig. 2is a plan viewof the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation,

i with. the door in the open position.

, Fig.4 .is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line fir-4: of Fig. 1.

. Fig. 5 is a. fragmentary plan view, with the top wall-in part broken away, on the er Fi 4..

same scaleas Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a' plan view on an enlarged scale of the blank for one of the adapters for use in housing flat keys, before being bent in the middle for the final shaping.

i Fig. 7-,.is a sectional viewon the line 77 Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the adapters.v

' 12 being distributed to 5. inclusive,

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 10 is a front elevation, on a reduced scale', of a modified form of structure for 35 use in housing flat keys.

- Fig..-11 is a plan v1ew of the same.

Fig; 12 is afragmentaryfront elevation on.' an enlarged scale of the same, with the door-in the open position.

40,. casing, 10 that is generally of cylindrical form in Which is operatively housed a drum My improved key cabinet comprises a 11 that is provided with a plurality of sockets 12 that are adapted individually to key, the said sockets around, the periphery,

there being, in they formjshown in Figs. 1 two rows thereof arranged receive and house a Y in circular form and concentric one with the other, comprising the outer row 13 and the inner row 14L.

' 'As to the keys, the sockets-12am adapted to receive directly a key 13 of the form havingv a; radial ward 16 that is connected to,

the stem 17, being'the common form of key known as a house-key and used largely in Application filed August 26,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 'Aug. 30, 1921.

1920. Serial no. 406,065.

factories for the doors for different rooms,

and the said sockets 12 are arranged to receive a key 18 such as is used in alock of the form known as a cylinder-lock by means of an adapter 19 of skeleton form that is itself receivable in the socket 12 and provides a reduced or auxiliary socket 20that is an operative fit for the said flat key "18. In Fig. 4 thehouse-key 15 is shown in the socket 12 inthe outer row 13, and

the fiat-key 18 is shownin thesocket 12 in,

the inner row 14:. e e

The adapter is made of sheet metal, as shown in Fig. 6, which represents the blank of the proper form forbeing bent at the middle 21 so as to bringthe two arms 22,

in opposition one to the other'and approximately in parallelism, so as toprovide a spring holding effect for the adapter. itself when positioned in the socket'12 and to also provide a spring the flat-key 18 in place.

The socket 12, is provided by means of, a

piece of tubing 23 having a bore suchas to provide a loose fit for the stem. 17 of the house-key 15, is closed, at the rear end 24, is openat the front end 25, and has a slot 26 on the lower side that extends through the inner wall 28 and connects with the bore 27 0f the'tube 23 for, admitting the radial ward 16.

The tube 23 is of sufficient length to re ceive and house substantiallythe entire.

length of the key stem 17 leaving thering holding efi'ect for holding 29 projecting forwardly fromthe front face 7 80 Of the V 20 isused for receiving a fiat-key 18 the drum '11, and when the adapter head portion 31 thereof projects similarly from the said front face 30, as shown 111 Fig. 4. p I

The tubes 23 terminateat the frontends in thefront face plate 30- mentioned, and r at the rear, closed ends 24 are mergedintopositioned at about the middle of thelentire v end to the front casing wall 41.

structure, concentric with the axis, and extended radially outwardly beyond the cylindrical side wall 36 of the casing 10, suitably to be grasped and serve as a. handle for rotating the drum 11. As shown, the said hand wheel 35 comprises a rim 37 that serves as the handle proper, and whichis supported by a plurality of spokes 38 that are connected at their inner ends by some part of the internal structure of the drum 11, as to the particular tubes 23 that may be in registration therewith.

The radial part of the wheel 35, which in the present instance comprises the spokes 38, travels in a slot 39 in the casing side wall 36, the said slot 39 serving to divide the casing into two parts, comprising the rear part that is composed of the rear portion of the cylindrical side wall 36 and the back casing wall '40, and the front part that is composed of the front portion of the said cylindrical side wall 36 and the front casing wall 41. The two casing parts are interconnected through the medium of the shaft 34 which is connected at its rear end to the back casing wall 40 and at its front In use, the back casing wall 40 is aflixed to a supporting wall, being the side wall of an oflice in a factory or public building or the like, and serves as the support for the key cabinet structure. Thus the front part of the casing described above will be supported through the medium of the shaft 34.

In order to provide access to the sockets 12 the front casing wall 41 is provided with a door 42 that is provided with a lock 43 that is operated by a key that is inserted in the key-hole 44, the said door 42 being of such size that when open one or more sockets 12 will be exposed in both the outer row 13 and the inner row 14, as shown, or a separate door may be provided for each row, as may be desired.

The front face 30. of the drum 11 is provided with a set of numbers 45 for the different I sockets, being visiblethrough sightholes 50 in the casing 10, which numbers may be selected and arranged according to'any system desired.

In the modification shown in Figs. 10, 11,

and 12 the squirrel-cage form of structure isdeparted from in that the keys when housed in the drum 11 are disposed of radially instead of longitudinally or in parallelisrn with the axis as in the form previously described, and the particular device now being considered is adapted for flat-keys only, and, as a further detail, the said keys18, as shown, are positioned flatwise in the said drum 11 The keyslS are inserted from the outer side radially into a'f that has the open mouth 48 at socket 12 the periphery of the drum 11 and in order to rovide access thereto th 100 42 a the casing 10 comprises besides the main or body part 46 that is hinged to the adjacent body of the front wall plate 41 and is positioned in a radial plane, the overhanging part 47 at right angles to the main part 46 and which when in the closed position overhangs the mouth 48. That is to say, the cylindrical side wall 36 is interrupted to provide access to the mouth 48 of the socket 12 by means of a suitable opening 49 and the OVGIhaIlging part 47 of the door 42 serves as the closure for the said opening 49. p The modified structure described provides a relatively flat or shallow structure,

to be opposed to a supporting wall, a shaft extended forwardly from said rear wall and supported therefrom in fixed position, a drum having a plurality of sockets mounted to rotate on said shaft, the receiving ends of said sockets being positioned at the end portion of said drum that is remote from said rear wall, a handle for rotating said drum, and said handle being connected to the drum at the periphery thereof, and in a radial plane intermediate said receiving ends andrear wall.

2. A key cabinet structure having a casing, a drum mounted'to rotate in said casing, the peripheral wall of the casing exterior to the said drum being divided by an endless slot, and a handle connected to the said drum and extended through the said slot'for rotating the drum.

' 3. Akey cabinet structure as described inclaim 1, the, said casing comprising also a frontLwall, and the said front wallbeing solely supported by the said shaft.

a casing, a drum operatively housed for rotative movement in said casing and having a plurality of sockets, the wall structure of said sockets being constructed and arranged individually to house the shank portion only of a key, so that the handle por tion of the key will in each case project be yond the structure of thedrum, and opposed portions of the drum and the inclosin-g wall of the casing being spaced 'to provide a housing chamber for said handle portions of the keys. a

5. A key cabinet structure comprising a casing, a drum operatively' housed therein or rotative movement and havinga plurality of sockets, the border wall structure ,of the individual sockets being constructed nd arr g d for r c v g and housing the handle portions of keys positioned in said sockets, whereby said portion ofthe Wall of:

the casing is adapted to prevent accidental removal of the keys when the drum is rotated. V

6. A key cabinet structure having a key receiving drum that is rotatively mounted and has a plurality of individual sockets for receiving the keys, the Wall structure for said sockets being generally of tubular form, and the said well structure being provided on one side with a longitudinal slot for receiving the bit portion of the key housed therein.

' 7. A key cabinet structure having a drum that is provided with a plurality of sockets for receiving each a key, and an adapter device for being inserted in said socket, said adapter device being constructed and arranged for receiving a key of a different form of structure from that of a key that is receivable in said sockets.

JACOB BENSON. 

